The Knowhere Guide

Eating and Drinking in Leigh, Greater Manchester*

Leigh, Greater Manchester Pubs, Cafes, Coffee Shops and Restaurants

Food

• Leigh must be the Takeaway capital of England as everywhere you turn there is a kebab, chinese, pizza, etc type establishment. However, they are all actually prety good! A Pizza huts recently opened, and theres also a Mc'Donalds. If you like KFC, we have the best alternative - Crispy Fried Chicken, its thumb licking good!
• I am surprised that no-one has mentioned any of the chip shops in Leigh, as they are actually quite good. The one opposite the police station is probably the best, with honourable mentions going to the one at the end of Holden Road and the the first one over Butts Bridge. Also a Pizza Hut has opened in Leigh, and after 5 months it hasn't gone bust yet, so it must be holding it's own (ooer, whatever) against the local kebab/pizza eateries.
• McDonalds, Pizza Hut and MR EATS all Classy Joints NOT!!!
• There is a chinese restaurant opposite The Boars Head which is quite good. A few doors down is Harts, and although I have not been I have heard that its very good and very unLeigh like. The Sopna (Indian) is opposite the not lamented hippodrome, and provides reasonable curries. As for kebab shops, too many to mention, although the Casbah is undoubtedly the most popular. There is also a McDonalds, but of a night it usually has an encampent of scallies outside - not that you'd want ot go in anyway.
• Pies, pies and more pies. And kebab shops. And pizza shops with a one and a half hour delivery time. And a Macdonalds, for when locals are celebrating their wedding anniversaries.
• Bella Bistro, Railway Road. Coffe and snacks in the daytime and Bistro in the evenings
• Harts restaurant, the only one in town.Owner, chef, Paul Hart, serves modern british quisine but no alcohol!.for a small bottle charge, 75p, you can take your own wine, beer, etc, saving lots of dosh on otherwise inflated restaurant drinks prices. Menu includes such dishes as kangaroo stir fry, crocodile(swamp and turf!),shark, red snapper as well as more regular dishes.7 Church St,Leigh, next to the Boars head pub, (formerley the boars head,then the flith and firkin and now back to the boars head!
• McDonalds, Lots of Cabab shops, Few good Pizza shops Some of the Pubs sell very good food during the day and evenings
• Leigh is home to Kebab shop kingdom. There are more kebab shops here than you can point a very pointy stick at. The current king of kebab shops is 'the Casba' which has the fortunate luck to be positioned between most of the major pubs. Although Mr. Eats is catching up. There are also a number of Balti takeaways, all of very good quality. There is a McDonalds, and there are rumors that there may be a Burger King drive through being built.

Pubs

• George & Dragon has received a lick of paint and got rid of the worlds most obnoxious landlord Phil. Any form of personality has now been removed and its just another wood pannelled pub!
• None worth mentioning except the sky bar, that has a relaxed atmosphere & more importantly, CHEAP ALE!
• JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THE PUB CALLED THE BRIDGE IN LEIGH IS CALLED THE TOP BRIDGE AND NOT THE BRIDGEWATER ARMS AS YOU PUT I SHOULD KNOW HAVING LIVED IN THE TOP BRIDGE FOR 18 YEARS
• Theres some good pubs in Leigh. At the weekend Edisons, Barbarellas, Chambers, and the Litten Tree all play some half decent music and all have some good drink deals on. Leigh Arms is good for a laugh, and plays a more indie/alternative sound. Goose is O.K for a quiet drink, but some of the barstaff are a bit Psycho.
• Yet another new pub in Leigh - the Litten Tree, not been in it but the beer is expensive apparently. The Spinny Jenny, is now the Goose at the Spinning Jenny, and while it is better, it takes an aged to get served as there only ever seems to be two people working. Spenny has been sacked from the Avenue and has been replaced by an equally miserable landlord.
• LEIGH ARMS - houses some of the fittest barmaids in leigh! let me take this opportunity to say JENNA, I LOVE YOU. SKY BAR - enjoyable estalishment to enjoy a snifter of port and a game of billiards
• There are many different pubs in Leigh, can't list em all, but here are some. The Goose at the Spinning Jenny is the new name for the Spinning Jenny, and is much improved after its Richard and Judy like makeover - the beer is now quaffable and you can actually hear someone speak to you! Edisons is your standard townie fare as is the Boardwalk (or whatever it is calling itself these days). The George and Dragon is ok as well, the Avenue is OK also - the best place in Leigh to watch a football match. The Boars Head - see above - The Waterside - expensive with older customers, but then at least then there are no real aresholes in there. The Bridge - nice and cheap, but always dead packed - not bad if you can stand karaoke!
• The Bridgewater Hotel (or Top Bridge to the locals as there are/were 3 at either side and on top of Leigh Bridge at one time!)
• The Goose - cheap drinks served by miserable bar staff
• Cheapest pub (Holts) is the Globe.
• The Globe has an excellent advisor working behind the bar. Although he is from Liverpool. Diamond Lager makes many people ill, and you must look out for people doing their dirt on the floor of the gents - the high point of any visit to Leigh (see also: used nappies on tables at the George and Dragon)
• there are lots of pubs in leigh all are verry full on giro day when the locals come to spend there money
• Spinning Jenny now open til 1am Fri/sat, £1 a pint wednesday's. Eagle & Child is no more, it's now a theme bar called Edisons with assorted arcade machines inside
• Eagle and Child now called Edisons, Bigger and Better (although the Toilets are upstairs) Boars Head now called Flitch and Firkin (not as popular now) White Lion is an old mans pub but it is cheap! Spinning Jenny and the Boardwalk(Lots of trouble here lately) are open until 1am Waterside is also a good pub, a bit expensive though

Cafes and Coffee Shops

• You must be joking! The day that Starbucks opens in Leigh is the day the town has been raised and that 100 IQ points has been added to every citizen! There is a greasy spoon at the bottom of Bradshawgate and one really dirty hole serving trolls in the market.
• More pies than you can shake a stick at. Do as the natives and have 2 for breakfast.
• Bella Bistro on Railway road - daytime cafe and bistro at night. All sorts of coffees
• there was until recently, a small shopping arcade called the "Boullivard" on Bradshawgate in the town centre, with hair and beauty salon, jokeshop, lingerie shop, wallpapershop, frozen food stall,make-up stall, both dress and shoe repair stalls, clothes shops and in the centre was a cafeteria. Unfortunatly this place was raised to the ground ( in other words 'burned down') in the early hours one morning causing approx. one million pounds worth of damage. this also caused a lot of people to loose not only their jobs but also their livelyhoods in a town where unemployment and hardship is rife.
• chips burges and pizas thats it

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Last updated: 2007-07-09